Arvest Investments Inc. Sells 2,020 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Arvest Investments Inc. reduced its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 29.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,941 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,020 shares during the quarter. Arvest Investments Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Applied Materials by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $340,895,000 after purchasing an additional 164,085 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 62.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $343,138,000 after buying an additional 653,739 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic raised its stake in Applied Materials by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 13,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,147,000 after buying an additional 3,700 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 59.1% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 45,378 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,380,000 after buying an additional 16,851 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $339,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $154.38 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.37 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $125.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.